The Complete Protected by the Damned Series

by Michael Todd

  That is disgusting, Pandora grumbled. Let’s stick with eating them—unless you mean doing that and having a guy lick the sugar off? Yum! That sounds delicious!

  I was joking. Katie sighed.

  I’m not joking that you better find a way out of here before I start throwing things and bring you a whole lot of attention, Pandora threatened.

  I’m going, I’m going. Sheesh, Katie threw her hands in the air.

  She looked around her room. She was on the bottom floor, but none of the windows opened very far. They were cranking kind, not ones that slid up and down.

  She was about to give up when she remembered the room had a balcony or patio thing. She crept into the other room and opened the patio door, nonchalantly walking out as if she were just taking the air. When she didn’t see anyone around, she shoved her phone and card in her pocket and snuck over the railing into the garden.

  She walked along with her hands behind her back, pretending to look at the flowers until the woman in the window doing dishes had gone away.

  Quickly she ran over to the tall hedges that lined the property. She pulled the branches apart and sighed, realizing she was going to have to crawl underneath to get through.

  She pushed through on her hands and knees, squealing as a branch snapped back and got her in the face. She cussed at it, stopping for a moment to rub her eye.

  If I go blind, you are going to have to deal with it, Katie growled.

  Oh, stop being so dramatic. Pandora laughed. You looked like a complete moron sliding through the bushes like you are escaping from the mental institution.

  Maybe this is a mental institution, Katie mused. Maybe they are just posing as meditation and yoga specialists so there won’t be an uprising by fine citizens like me.

  Technically you aren’t a citizen. You’re dead, Pandora pointed out.

  Oh, great. While I am crawling through the bushes to make my way off the fucking reservation of fucking idiots to get YOU donuts, you point out my death, like it wasn’t traumatic enough, Katie whined.

  It was fake, Pandora replied in a snarky tone. How traumatic can a fake death be?

  Not the point. Katie finally crawled out the other side and stood up, pulling the leaves from her hair. Ha! I made it.

  Hold on. Pandora sniffed. We have company.

  Where? Who? Katie reached for the knife under her shirt but didn’t pull it out quite yet.

  About a half a mile away. Some demon, some human, Pandora told her.

  Katie moved another hundred yards to hide behind a large tree near the path and waited for the group to come along.

  She stood there quietly feeling nervous, but wanting to see if she could hear anything before calling Korbin. Finally the group came close enough, and she heard them talking about fifteen yards away. She could hear everything but see nothing.

  “Okay, here is the deal. We need new acolytes, but we aren’t killing these women,” the leader of the operation hissed. “This could be a flagship attack. In order to secure our place in this race we must turn the demons loose, possess these ladies, and change their families. Then in ten years, they will come back and turn the next generation of humans. They will spread the word, and continue to do so all over the country. We will secure the demons’ place among the humans.”

  “What if the police come?” a deeper voice asked.

  “We will get as many as we can possessed by that point, then bolt,” the first speaker answered. “They will lay the blame on the spa owners, and we will be in the clear. We all have alibis, and none in our party have any connection to this place. There is no reason for them to suspect us.”

  Katie, freaking out slightly, waited for them to pass her and circled around the tree before pulling out her phone. There was no way that the three of them could hold off all these demons and protect Charlotte at the same time.

  “Dammit!” They should have brought back-up, but they hadn’t and now they had to make do.

  She dialed Stephanie’s number and tapped her foot as she waited for her to answer.

  “What is it?” Stephanie whispered. “It’s nightly silent time.”

  “Emergency!” Katie blurted.

  “What? They didn’t have the crème-filled?” Stephanie cursed quietly in sympathy.

  Bwahahahahahaha! I like how this girl thinks.

  “No. I mean, I don’t know, but that’s not what I am calling about,” Katie answered.

  Shut up, Pandora!

  Katie continued, “The demons are here. They have a crew, and they are planning on possessing all of the women, or as many as possible. It’s some sick way they think they can keep their race here on this plane.”

  “How far away?”

  “They just walked past me, so it will be any time now,” Katie whispered, looking around her area. “I’m going to call Korbin and give him the skinny; see if there are any redshirts nearby who can help. I’ll be right back in, but Stephanie…keep Charlotte safe. She’s not a fighter, and I don’t want her to get possessed.”

  “Got it,” Stephanie answered. “See you in a minute.”

  Katie pressed End and stared at the bright full moon overhead.

  Doom dropped into the pit of her stomach, and she wondered how she had missed that feeling all night long. She shook the thought from her mind and speed-dialed Korbin.

  Stephanie turned to Ella and nodded, letting her know the attack was imminent. Ella looked at all the innocent faces around her and slowly put down her fork. Stephanie glanced at Charlotte, who for the first time looked scared.

  “Listen to me,” Stephanie whispered. “Get up slowly, excuse yourself, and hide out in our room. I want you in a closet, a box—whatever you can fit yourself in—out of the line of sight. I promised to keep you safe. Do you understand?”

  Charlotte nodded and looked at the yogi, who was lost in meditation. Carefully she stood up and tiptoed through the pillows and out the door. Stephanie could see her start to run when she reached the hallway, and she let out a sigh of relief.

  She would be safe until they could get her back out again.

  There weren’t enough closets in the whole place to hide the rest of these women. They needed to get them to safety without causing a mass panic, though. Stephanie had never been good at doing things without causing panic.

  She really wished that Katie would get back, because she was at a loss for what to do next.

  She looked at Ella and gestured to indicate that she too was leaving to get her weapons. Slowly the two girls stood and tiptoed through the group, making it out to the hallway and closing the doors behind them. They walked quickly toward their room, their bare feet slapping the marble floors.

  “Katie’s calling Korbin,” Stephanie explained. “The demons are here, and they plan on possessing every one of those women out there.”

  “Why?”

  “Survival, numbers, security,” Stephanie listed. “Katie will be back inside in a minute, but right now the two of us need to prepare. We need our weapons, and we need a game strategy. I’m not sure if we will have help; it might just be the three of us.”

  “What about Charlotte?” Ella asked. “Is she a fighter?”

  “No.” Stephanie chuckled. “She is an underground reporter-turned-spy for our side. She has never trained a day in her life, and she is not infected. I would like to keep it that way; give that girl the chance you didn’t have, Katie didn’t have, and most everyone on the teams wasn’t given.”

  “All right,” Ella agreed. “We will keep her safe. Not a problem.”

  “As for the rest, I don’t really know. We are going to have to play it by ear.”

  “Okay,” Ella replied. “Keep Charlotte safe and kick major fucking demon ass. I think I can handle both of those things.”

  “Good.” Stephanie smiled. “Because we are gonna have one hell of a fight on our hands.”

  “What’s good?” Korbin answered.

  “At the moment? Nothing,” Katie replied.

&nb
sp; “What’s going on?” he demanded, immediately dropping the playful tone.

  “The demons are here. It’s going down. Warn the locals; that is very important in case one of these motherfuckers escape. And by one, I am saying there are a lot of them. There isn’t any chance that there are redshirts in the area are there?”

  “I’ll go you one better,” Korbin told her. “I sent Derek and Eric to stay close by in case this very thing happened. I’ll dispatch them to you.”

  “Perfect.” Katie sighed. “You are always on top of things.”

  “I had a hunch,” he explained. “Be careful, and call me when it’s over. Oh, and please protect Charlotte.”

  “Already on it.” Katie headed back toward the house.

  Chapter 12

  Stephanie laid her weapons out on the bed as Ella dropped her shawl and pulled her vest over her shoulders, zipping it up in the front. She grabbed her swords and slid them into the back sheaths, then glanced at Charlotte. The woman looked terrified, so she sighed and rubbed Charlotte’s back.

  “You are going to be just fine, and if all else fails, kick them in the balls,” Ella explained.

  “That is my new motto,” Stephanie replied. “If all else fails, kick ‘em in the balls.”

  Just then the door flew open and all three girls jumped back. Stephanie grabbed her chest and breathed heavily as she stared at Katie.

  “Do you always have to be so dramatic?” Stephanie asked. “The door was unlocked; a simple twist of the handle would have sufficed.”

  “Yeah but then I couldn’t laugh at your terrified little faces.” Katie stuck out her tongue. “All right, we gotta get moving. We gotta get these women into their rooms.”

  “Okay, Charlotte.” Ella nodded. “Get in the closet, and don’t come out until I come back to get you. You are going to be fine. What’s the rule?”

  “If all else fails, kick ‘em in the balls,” she whimpered.

  “Hmmm.” Katie rubbed her chin. “I fucking love that rule.”

  “I know, right?” Stephanie smiled. “Too bad I already claimed it.”

  “Meh, you can’t stop these lips from spilling those words.” Katie smiled and hip-checked her. “All right, ladies, you ready? Oh, and fear not…Eric and Derek will be joining us soon.”

  “Oh, swoon.” Stephanie looked at her. “I think we got this.”

  “Maybe,” Katie replied.

  The three girls sprinted out the door, Ella taking a moment to shut and lock the door behind them. They sped down the marble hallways, still barefoot, their feet slapping against the cold stone. They swung open the dining room doors, causing the patrons to gasp and cry out. Stephanie jumped onto the table as Katie and Ella walked toward the back, scanning everyone, to make sure there were no red eyes in the crowd.

  “There is an emergency,” Stephanie yelled as she raised her arms in the air. “I need everyone including staff to stand up and calmly go to your rooms. Once there, lock the doors and don’t open for anyone unless you hear us over the loudspeaker first. This is not a drill, this is the real deal. Your lives are in danger.”

  Stephanie dropped her arms and watched the women gab nervously to each other. For a moment she thought maybe she had spoken the wrong language, but then she realized these women were rich bitches who weren’t used to anything being an emergency except their much-needed dye jobs.

  Stephanie looked at Katie and shrugged, not knowing what to do.

  “Hey!” Ella yelled. “Did you guys hear her?”

  Still nothing. They were completely unable to understand that they needed to get the hell up and hide before bloodsucking demons came and took their souls.

  Remember…if they get infected, they will probably eat more grass and you won’t have to.

  Don’t tempt me, Pandora.

  That is kind of my middle name. You breathe, I tempt.

  Katie put her hands on her hips, double-checking that she really needed to help these women.

  She remembered her responsibilities and sighed.

  “Hey,” a voice came from behind Stephanie. “Get your asses up!”

  A smiling Charlotte, wearing a vest and carrying a knife, stepped around Stephanie.

  “I can’t be scared forever, right?” she asked.

  “Whoop!” Ella raised a fist. “Charlotte’s here to kick some ass.”

  All the women started to get to their feet, but none were leaving the room. Katie rolled her eyes and looked around for a fire alarm or something.

  Instead, her eyes fell on a beautiful ice sculpture of a woman surrounded by grasses and flowers. She grabbed her pistol from its holster and pointed it at the ice.

  She pulled the trigger and blew the thing to pieces. Ice went flying everywhere and all of the women screamed, ducking and staring at her.

  “THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Now that I have your attention,” she waved her pistol toward the exits, “I need everyone to hurry. Run to your rooms and lock the doors.”

  She put her gun in the air and raised her eyebrows. The women took off down the hallways to lock themselves in their rooms. Katie holstered her gun, brushing her hands together.

  Stephanie watched them leave. “And that is how you get the damn thing done, Mama.”

  “These women are fucking impossible.” Katie shook her head. “Charlotte, are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have any experience.”

  “I’m sure,” she replied emphatically.

  “All right, take my gun.” Katie handed her one of her two pistols. “Just point it at the demon’s head and BLAM!”

  Ella nodded her head. “Works every time.”

  Just then they heard a noise from outside.

  The demons had arrived.

  Ella went over to the window and peered into the small canyon at the edge of the property. It was dark, but red eyes reflected at her.

  “That is a whole lot of fucking red eyes,” Ella commented from beside her, a touch of concern in her voice.

  “Let me see,” Stephanie exclaimed, excitedly running across the tables and jumping down to look out the window. “Wow, they really brought the show today. They are here for the fucking win.”

  “No matter how many of them there are, we have something they don’t,” Katie stated.

  “Wheatgrass?” Ella asked.

  “No,” Katie ground out. “Souls.”

  “Come on, let’s show them what Korbin’s Killers are made of.” Stephanie checked her weapons. “Then we’ll get some fucking donuts.”

  I like that girl more every day, Pandora declared.

  Stephanie led the group as they headed outside. She was giddy; excited to show those bastards a good time.

  A very good time. Well, at least for her.

  “Oh, shit. That’s a lot.” She stopped to reassess as the numbers caught up, then shrugged. She was there to kick ass and not take names, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

  The four girls lined up and looked down at the possessed, who were surprised to see defenders.

  Stephanie twirled her knife in her hand.

  She looked at Katie and flashed her a huge smile.

  If she is feeling fear, she hides it well, Pandora commented. She could do with a little fear. Fear helps the body sense threats.

  Katie nodded as Stephanie let out a battle cry that echoed across the grounds.

  With that she sprinted into the group, slashing her knife from side to side. The feeling of warm blood on her hands did something to her, and her eyes flashed bright red.

  “Come here, demon babies. I got your soul right here,” Stephanie called, jumping onto a demon’s shoulders and twisting his head to snap his neck.

  “That’s going to leave a mark!” Ella called.

  Stephanie jumped down before his body even collapsed and moved on to the next.

  The demons snarled and growled, backing up as Katie, Ella, and Charlotte entered the fray on both sides of Stephanie.

  Stephanie had sprays of blood on her fac
e and she laughed as she ran forward, her short sword high in the air. She swiped low, taking two demons out at the knees and jabbing her sword into their chests.

  She pulled the sword out with a grunt and wiped the black blood from her face, slightly disgusted by the taste of blood on her lips.

  She raised her fingers to her nose and breathed deeply as she felt the adrenaline rolling through her. She was angry—very angry—and she wasn’t going to let those bastards win, no matter how many of them there were.

  She rolled across the ground and sprang to her feet, turning away just as a demon swiped across her arm. She gasped and clenched her teeth totally pissed at what had just happened.

  “You cut my fifty-dollar motherfucking hippy shirt, you bitch,” she growled at the female human standing there. Stephanie smiled, tossing her knife in the air. “Time to go night-night, little girl.”

  She lunged forward to cold-cock the girl and she went down like a fucking sack of potatoes. Stephanie laughed and stepped over the girl, determined not to kill any humans but definitely not letting them get away with that shit. She looked around and sighed; more demons were coming at them from the sides.

  “There are a lot of these fuckers!” she yelled. “Workout time!!!”

  Katie laughed as Stephanie went pure postal on demons and humans alike, then ran up behind her teammate and grabbed a demon by the ear, dragging him away. She flipped him around by pulling on his ear and shook her finger in his face.

  “Sneaking up on a girl is not very nice,” Katie told him. She pulled her knife out of its sheath and tossed it in the air. “And what do we do with not-nice demons?”

  Katie rolled her neck, opened her mouth, and yelled with her and Pandora’s combined voice.

  “We fucking kill them!”

  She caught the knife by the handle and plunged it deep into the demon’s chest. The demon screamed in horror before bursting into ash. Katie smiled, still holding her knife.

  Behind you.

  Turning quickly, Katie kicked another demon in the chest.